The Returning
by luceheartfilia
Summary: One year has passed since Gene's body was found and Naru's departure to England. Naru and Lin have returned to Japan and SPR Japan is back in business and taking on some of their most challenging and terrifying cases yet. [All cases will be loosely based upon some of Japan's most famous Ghost stories.]
1. Case 1: The Flowing Kimono (Part I)

**A/N: Hello, readers! I know, I have a current and in-progress Ghost Hunt story—BUT I thought up this one and I just couldn't wait to get started. **

**Basically, this story will take place a year and some time after Naru and Lin left Japan. They just returned from England and everyone at SPR Japan are getting back into the groove of things. The story will have 10 (or maybe more, depending on how much you guys like it) cases that are all loosely based on some of Japan's most popular ghost stories.**

**This first case will be based very, very loosely upon the story of **_The Ghost of Oyuki_**. You can all look it up and read about it!**

**I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

_Case #1: The Flowing Kimono_

* * *

_**Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, 1949**_

Sasaki Hanako, well known in the area as Ichisumi, her given _geiko_ name, let a quiet, musical laugh escape her ruby lips.

Her white face contrasted against the dark of the night and Kirito Kurosawa could not help but be mesmerized by the beauty in front of him. "Kirito, I should be going. _Okaa-san _will suspect if I do not return soon."

Hanako had just returned from a small gathering that one of her most loyal customers, Yoshida-san, had been hosting. She and two of her fellow sisters had been entertaining the guests and on their way home, she had snuck away to meet with her forbidden lover, Kirito.

He loosened his grip on her hand and brought his hand to her face, his touch light as a feather, careful not to rub the carefully placed makeup.

The geisha closed her eyes at the feel of his large and calloused hand on her face. "Kirito… I must go now."

Kirito removed his hand from her face, a sad smile on his face. "When will we be able to be together, without the need of the night's dark?"

It was then that she raised her hand to briefly place it on his cheek tenderly. "Soon." She gave him a ruby red smile and walked out of the shadows, her _okobo_, clanking against the paved way.

Hanako had walked a good distance, the night air bringing a chill. The only sound of the night was that of her clanking _okobo _and the jewel pieces on her hair ornaments chiming with the rhythm of her steps.

The newly appointed _geiko _was not far from the house where she, _Okaa-san_, and her _geiko_ and _maiko_ sisters lived when a cold, large hand came from behind her and wrapped around her small face.

Hanako let out a muffled shriek and she could feel the makeup around her mouth rubbing away. Her heavy hair and costume had caused her to lose her balance and stagger into the meaty chest of her captor.

The young woman's chest seized with cold fear as the stranger dragged her struggling and frail body away.

Hanako felt one of her _okobo _slip off her small foot_. _As she was being taken, the _geiko_ was able to catch a glimpse of who had captured her.

Her eyes widened.

_Yoshida-san_. She thought. The portly man felt her gaze and looked down at her terror-stricken eyes with a grin. "If you will not be mine, you will be no one's."

* * *

_**Present Day, Tokyo**_

Taniyama Mai sat at her desk in the office of the SPR Japan building. Her cinnamon eyes had ventured from her work to the large glass window that gave the young girl a view of the busy Tokyo streets.

It had been a year and some months since Naru and Lin had left Japan for England, a year since they had found…Gene, and a year since her botched love confession. She winced slightly at the thought of it.

Her boss and his other assistant had been back in Japan for two weeks and were resettling into the office, the group having yet to take on their first case in a while. _Slowly_, Mai thought, _things were going back to normal. Somewhat._

The kettle in the kitchenette whistled loudly, breaking the young girl from her thoughts. She jumped up from her seat, smoothing her uniform skirt as she stood, and made her way to the kitchenette.

She had just poured the boiled water into the teacup when she heard the front door to the office open.

Mai rushed to place the kettle back on the stove and hastened to the lounge of the office.

A balding older man and a young man of Mai's age or perhaps a bit older stood, their eyes surveying the area with interest.

"Hello, I am Taniyama Mai," Mai greeted, a polite but warm smile gracing her lips. "Welcome to SPR. How can I help you?"

The older of the two smiled back although Mai could tell it was a bit strained. "Hello, yes. My name is Kuriyama Hiroshi and this is my son Kyou. We have an appointment with Shibuya-san."

Mai was about to open her mouth to speak when another voice beat her to it. "Welcome, Kuriyama-san," Oliver "Noll" Davis, or Naru as his Japanese employees called him, was closing the door to his office and walking towards the group. "Mai, if you could please bring us some tea."

With that, he briskly led the potential clients towards the couches. As the two Kuriyama men were led away, they shared a surprised look. Mai rolled her eyes at her boss before returning to the kitchenette.

* * *

Mai stood behind Naru, holding the tray that previously carried three cups of tea to her chest. Lin was seated on the armchair to the left, laptop at the ready.

The elder Kuriyama-san's hand shook as he raised the tea cup to his lips. Naru though, tapped his fingers against his knee impatiently and cleared his throat rudely.

Mai resisted the urge to whack him up the head with the tray.

In the year that he had been away, Naru had obviously not improved on his manners at all.

At Naru's expectant look, the elder Kuriyama-san hurriedly placed his cup back on the saucer and pulled at the collar of his shirt.

"Where would you like me to begin, Shibuya-san?"

"Preferably, the beginning."

Letting out a nervous laugh, Kuriyama-san shifted in his seat and nodded. "My son and I, we moved from Tokyo to a new property in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture only 3 months prior. I had just lost my wife, my son his mother and we wanted a new beginning."

Mai gave the man a sympathetic smile that he returned before continuing to speak. "Upon the first few weeks, nothing of strange origins occurred. It was about a month and half when _it_ happened."

Lin stopped typing for a moment to look up at the speaking man. Kuriyama-san looked towards his son and nudged him expectantly.

Kyou-kun looked at his father for a moment, before turning his green eyes to Naru.

"I was getting ready for bed," Kyou-kun began. "And I noticed my room had gotten a lot colder. I was rummaging through my closet for an extra bed futon when I heard _her_."

His eyes had gone unseeing as he stared blankly at the wall ahead of him. Naru studied the young man in front of him with an uninterested look on his face. "Her?" he asked.

Kyou's eyes returned to the black clad teen in front of him. "I heard her before I saw her. She was calling out for a _Kirito_. At first it was a whisper and then I heard it louder. When I turned around—she—she was there."

He swallowed what seemed to be a large lump in his throat before speaking again. "Her hair was messy, what looked to be a once intricate bun gone undone, her face was pale and smeared with makeup, and she wore a bloody kimono. I knew things weren't right when I realized that this woman—she was _floating_."

Mai felt goosebumps on her arms and a small shiver rocked her frame. With furrowed eyebrows, she observed Kyou, his handsome face pale and frightened. Kyou felt her gaze and looked at Mai, who quickly averted her eyes and took to staring at the ground.

Naru's interest seemingly peaked a bit. "Was that the last you saw of her?" Kyou-kun shook his head. "I've seen her one other time after that. I mostly hear her—always calling out that name."

Kuriyama-san picked at his collar once more. "There are many a nights where we cannot get good sleep. This—this _thing—_her activity has only gotten more frequent. There are nights where all you hear are the screams and cries of a young woman—or thuds and thumps that only get louder as the night passes.

We attempted to get help from the local shrine but it was proven futile. Nothing has worked."

Kuriyama-san's tone had become desperate. "Please Shibuya-san. We cannot continue to live like this."

The room had gone silent for a moment, Lin's persistent typing pausing.

Naru's stony eyes narrowed at the Kuriyama men.

"Mai, call the others and inform them of the case. Kuriyama-san if you could please leave the details with my other assistant, Lin-san." He then stood and nodded at the men before walking to his office, ignoring the rushed thank yous Kuriyama-san threw his way.

Mai vaguely heard Lin telling Kuriyama-san to prepare 3 rooms for the team before she made her way to her desk and picked up the phone.

* * *

**A/N: Thoughts? This is an idea that I'm toying with and I'm really excited about it! Should I continue? Please review and let me know what you all think!**

**Translations:**

**_Okaa-san - _**_The translation of this word means "Mother". For the geisha, the okaa-san were usually in charge of all the "geiko" and "maiko" in the geisha houses._

_**geiko** - is another word used for geisha. _

_**maiko** - an apprentice geiko; basically the younger women that are in training to become professional geisha_

_**okobo** - a traditional Japanese wooden pair of sandals that stand several inches high, usually to keep the traditional clothing of kimonos and yukatas off the ground_


	2. Case 1: The Flowing Kimono (Part II)

**A/N: I already had this written out for everyone and I decided I would post it today! I'm glad there are people looking forward to this story. I'm looking forward to writing it.**

**Here's the second part! Enjoy!**

* * *

_Case #1: The Flowing Kimono (Part II)_

* * *

Mai was humming to herself as she packed a week's worth of clothing into her duffel bag, carefully folding the clothing to avoid the possibility of wrinkling. She and the gang would be heading out early the next morning for Hikone, Shiga Prefecture—a five hour trip that Mai was not looking forward to making.

She did not do well sitting in a vehicle for too long—especially when in a vehicle for too long with Naru and Lin who both refused to entertain her with car games. Lin also refused to turn on the radio and Naru did not like it when she used her iPod because "she played her music too loud and made the rest of them suffer through her terrible music."

Mai packed her iPod in her duffel bag anyway.

With the last of her belongings tucked away, she let out a tired sigh and pushed her medium length braid over her shoulder. The young girl looked towards the clock to see it read 11:50 PM.

Biting her lip, Mai grabbed the heavy duffel and moved it from her bed to the corner of the room.

If she wanted to wake up early enough to eat breakfast before she was due at SPR at 7:00 AM sharp, she would need to haul her tush to bed.

Finally, tucking herself under her covers, the seventeen year old closed her auburn eyes, burrowing her nose into her pillow.

She felt the familiar tugging of sleep, her senses numbing as she was pulled into a deep slumber, her previous thoughts of the case to come swirling around her head coming to a halt.

* * *

_A young woman let out a sharp cry as a hand tugged at a chunk of her hair, her delicate scalp throbbing painfully. "N-no please!"_

_Thick fingers grasped at her chin tightly "Shut it, girl. I don't want you drawing unnecessary attention." She only cried harder in response. His hands crawled at her waist, tugging on the kimono she was wearing._

"_Such beautiful fabric." He murmured, his eyes strangely transfixed by the patterns of the colorful flowers on the white kimono. The girl whimpered, uncomfortable at the feel of his hands._

_His hands moved back up to her face, the look in his crazed eyes desperate. "Why did you refuse me? Why do you continue to deny me, even now?" She tried to turn her face away from him and with a grunt of anger, the portly man lifted the small girl by the shoulders and shook her violently._

"_Why?_

_WHY?_

_WHY!?..."_

A gasp tore through Mai as she shot up in bed. She reached up to her cheeks and felt that they were sticky and wet.

She had been crying in her sleep.

Her eyes traveled to the clock and she saw that it was only 3:34 AM. Mai placed a hand on her chest, leaning against her headboard and closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing.

The panic in the young girl's eyes.

The psychotic glint in the older man's face.

Who was she?

Who was _he_?

Mai had a gut feeling this dream had something to do with the case they would probably be working on. Why were her dreams picking up now? The case hadn't even officially started and she hardly had any information.

Perhaps the dream was a product of her thinking about the case before sleeping and her brain imagined the scenario? Perhaps it was nothing. She internally debated for a few moments before deciding she would think about it in the morning.

It was less than three hours that she needed to get up, but the young assistant knew she would not be getting anymore sleep. Every time she closed eyes, the visions kept replaying and seeing this young girl suffer was not something Mai wanted to keep reliving.

Pushing the covers away, Mai lifted herself off of the bed and padded to the light switch, intent on going to the kitchen—maybe some peppermint tea would sooth her nerves.

* * *

"Mai. You're late."

Unfortunately for Mai, the tea did work—worked too well, and she had fallen back into a dreamless sleep on her couch—completely unaware of the blaring alarm the next room over, the insistent sound finally piercing through her deep slumber.

Now here she was, hair tied up messily with a ribbon, clothing ruffled, the small brunette standing in front of an irritated looking Naru. She only rolled her eyes at him. "By five minutes."

"Try twenty. Next time, I'll make sure to dock your pay." He threatened and brushed past her. Mai bristled and dumped the duffel bag at her feet. "Stupid narcissist."

"Cheer up, Jou-chan," Takigawa Hōshō came up behind the small girl and placed a large hand on top of her head, patting it gently. "We're having a road trip!"

Mai couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm but then scowled at the thought of spending the next five hours trapped in a vehicle with Grumpy Number One and Grumpy Number Two.

"Bou-san," Mai smiled at him prettily. "Can I ride with you in your car today?" Before the monk could reply, Naru called out to Mai in a chilly voice, "Mai, let's go. You've already held us up enough with your late arrival. Quit your chatting."

Hara Masako let out a small giggle at the reprimanded girl, hiding her smirk behind the sleeve of her kimono.

Mai ignored the girl and pouted at Monk. The older man tried comforting her. "You don't wanna ride with me, Jou-chan. That _old hag's _going to be in the same car—you wouldn't want to be in the same space with her for thirty minutes let alone five hours. You lucked out, kiddo."

"I suggest you shut it, old man." Matsuzaki Ayako shouted, her his leaning against the passenger door of Bou-san's car. "It's not as if you're the exact spitting image of youth."

Osamu Yasuhara let out a scandalized gasp. "Blasphemous," He slid closer to Bou-san, placing a hand on his bicep. "My beautiful Bou-san doesn't look a day over twenty."

Monk pushed Yasu away and groaned. "Come on, man." John Brown who stood next to Masako smiled slightly and Mai let out a giggle.

"Mai!"

"Duty calls." Mai let out a sigh. "Pray for me!" She looked to John and called out to him dramatically.

The priest smiled in amusement. "I'm sure you'll be fine, Mai-chan."

* * *

Mai let out a long and dragging sigh, her shoulders hunched as she was squished in the back between equipment.

Lin and Naru were as silent as ever, continuing to ignore her.

They had been driving for at least an hour and a half, Naru already having confiscated Mai's iPod within the first twenty minutes. She was also starting to get a little hungry—her late start had caused her to forego eating something for breakfast.

With nothing better to do, the brunette closed her cinnamon eyes and rested her head back. _The dream! _Mai furrowed her eyebrows. _Should I tell them about it?_

As her internal debate continued, the young assistant unknowingly began to tap her fingers in a rhythmic motion on her thigh.

Naru who was immersed in a thick book stiffened at the small patting sound Mai was making. "Mai, I'm sure you're old enough to find some sort of entertainment that does not include making any sort of distracting noises."

Her internal debate interrupted and momentarily forgotten, the auburn-eyed girl let out an irritated scoff. "If you'd give me back my iPod—"

Lin stoically stared out at the road in front of him, the bickering coming from his two teenage companions becoming background noise. _If anyone suffers during these long car rides, it's me._

* * *

**A/N: Okay, everyone! I hope you all liked this one! I already have this case and the second case somewhat figured out. But I was wondering if any of you readers had any favorite Japanese ghost stories you would possibly like me to base a case on? You guys can leave them in the reviews/PM them to me! I'd love to see what you guys would like to see and come up with!**

**Thank you! Please read and review! Your support means everything!**


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